Last year, I posted about the last day of school, & without any promotion (linking to Pinterest or other blogs) it became the most viewed post on my blog! Since we did things slightly different this year, I thought I’d give you an update on our yearly traditions!
I had been sick earlier in the week, so I was still playing catch up the morning of the last day of school. This year, we gave the kids’ teachers, custodians, secretaries, principals, & nurses gift cards to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt. In the past, we have given $5 gift cards to the staff for Dairy Queen, Star Bucks, & Little Caesar’s (where you can get an entire large pizza for 5 bucks!) as well.
This year, instead of just putting a note in Zeke’s lunch, I decided to do something silly & unusual & wrap his lunch container!
I used a sharpie to write a note on the packaging & added a little washi tape flag to the stem of his apple! Luckily, Zeke thought it was funny & didn’t have his hopes dashed when he unwrapped his lunch instead of a cool gift!
Once both kids were in school, I assembled some goodies in sand buckets as a last day of school surprise. The gifts consisted of goggles, sidewalk chalk, bug nets, water squirters, glow sticks, bubbles, a styrophome plane, water football, jump rope, & magnifying glass.
Later, I sat them on the front stoop & attached a note for each of my kids explaining how excited I am to get to spend all summer with them! I also made a poster for the front door & was informed it could be seen all the way from the bus stop!
Our yearly tradition is to hide around the house & spray our kids with water guns & hoses once they walk up the driveway on the last day. I kept stalling hoping my husband would be home to help (especially since there was a big toad in the shed, making it impossible for me to go in & get the hose!) & frantically at 3:00, with about twenty minutes until the kids got home, I began filling up water balloons at lightning speed. I put most of them in a bucket at the end of the driveway with a note that said, “I think you know what to do with these!”
With just minutes to spare, I armed myself with a water gun & water balloons, & ran around the side of the house! As soon as they got to the driveway, I ran out & attacked them with my ammo! Unfortunately, the kids soon noticed the bucket of water balloons & without my handy sidekick (aka my husband) I got the worse end of the deal!
After drying off & grabbing a quick bite to eat in the car, we headed to a local amusement park, (we have season passes) for some extra fun! The weather was great, the lines were short, & it was the perfect way to kick start our summer break!
So, do you celebrate the last day of school? I’d love to hear what you do to make the last (or first) day of school special!
